total newbie what bike for £700?

Felix-da-house-mouse

hi,

i'm a roadie (try to contain your boo's) lol, and would quite like to give mountain biking a shot for some winter training and jut for something different, but i also want a bike i can cycle to the town on or to my mates etc, bit hard on a carbon roadie, but what do i go for? hardtail? full sus? soft tail? downhill? then what kind? questions questions questions lol HELP!!!........ :?

supersonic

Hardtail for this money, others are generally a lot heavier at this price. I'd recommend something along the lines of a 100mm travel hardtail like a Specialized Rockhopper Disc or GT Avalanche Expert.

jacktheoc

i would say a hardtail, they are a few cheap full sus bikes cheap now !
what size frame are you? here are a few but only a few sizes left!
http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.p ... m1b4s1p395
http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.p ... b58s2p1107

jacktheoc

i would say a hardtail, they are a few cheap full sus bikes cheap now !
what size frame are you? here are a few but only a few sizes left!
http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.p ... m1b4s1p395
http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.p ... b58s2p1107

Felix-da-house-mouse

i've no idea i'm a 30 inch inside leg if that helps and my roadie is 54 cm

jacktheoc

a 17" will be fine for you then.have a look at the marin its an excellent bike with good spec and a massive reduction!

Rich25

Heres some good starters for you;

http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/ebwPNLq ... 909m009349

http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/ebwPNLq ... 909m003041

http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/ebwPNLq ... 909m010228

and if you can stretch..
http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/ebwPNLq ... 909m008801

jacktheoc

the marin is a better buy than any of those..but they are still worth a look at as it is your starter bike so one for £500 will be good enough

Big n Daft

I'm not going to recommend any bikes, everyone already mentioned would make a fine purchase at their respective prices.

I'm only going to add one thing.

Try before you buy.

Don't buy a bike blind or off the t'internet without at least sitting on the same one in a LBS, (I apologise if I'm trying to teach me granny to suck eggs, but you'd be surprised how many do it and then moan after) no matter how good a deal it looks. You could well end up with something that doesn't suit you, your body or your riding style.

If all you want is a basic training/winter hack you don't need to spend anywhere near £700.

Me personally, I'd look at a hardtail around the £400 to £500 mark.

For this you'll get a perfectly usable, durable, easily upgradable if the bug bites and specced well enough to do what you need it to do bike.

Rich25

the marin is excellent.all depends what you are after I suppose.

bullcross

http://www.boardmanbikes.com/?jspStoreD ... reId=10001

Felix-da-house-mouse

i take it you wouldnt suggest a full sus at this money, can i ask y?

Big n Daft

The general thought is that full suss at under a £1000 are very very heavy, or compromised in specification, generally to the detriment of the ride.

There are bargains to be picked up, but they are bikes that are at least last years model, some are even 04 or 05 models.

If you really want a cheaper full suss, that has received decent reviews, you could do a lot worse than one of the Decathlon models.

Rockrider 6.3 or 9.1 are the ones to look at, there's a £400 difference in price but both are extremely well thought of in the reviews they've had.

For the type of riding you state in your OP, honestly I think a full suss will be overkill, you'll undoubtedly get more bike for your money with a hardtail.

Rich25

regard sub 1k full sussers...

my mate bought last years version of this, (which i think you could still find for about £700) and it is absolutely brilliant. It basically does everything you want it to do.

http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/ebwPNLq ... 909m008801